Over Labor Day weekend, John and I traveled to the great state of Texas to see our Michigan Wolverines take on the Florida Gators in the Advocare Classic. A number of friends came along to cheer on Michigan and we had such a blast so I thought I would share some of the fun highlights.

I was surprised to find a winery in Texas because it is so hot, but apparently they have a few regions that mimic the California coast and actually produce some fantastic grapes. They had a nice facility and have been around for more than 20 years. They have a few of the vines onsite and you can walk through them and taste some grapes right off the vine. My friend Chandra (who recently joined us for a guest post) was also on the trip:

After our tasting we were able to purchase bottles and sit outside which was a fun afternoon activity. Safe to say we thoroughly tried a nice selection…

Saturday was game day and we decided to purchase tickets to the official alumni tailgate which turned out to be a great idea mostly because of the air conditioning. It also included food and drink and they had a fun lineup of former players and music to keep it exciting.

The game was so exciting and we won making the whole experience even better. AT&T Stadium is huge!

Of course I found a winery for us to stop in at. Cowtown Winery was the perfect refresher on a HOT day.

We stopped by Cooper’s Old-Time BBQ for all the meats before we hit the rodeo. Make sure to bring your appetite. The Stockyards Rodeo was the main attraction. There were barrel races and all kinds of tricks. At the end they had bull riders and one of them almost got trampled! We thought he broke his ankle, but his boot had just come off. It was intense!

I really needed to invest in a cowboy hat to protect me from that Texas sun. I am not built for that kind of heat! We had a fantastic time in Texas and I wish we could have spent more time exploring. Who knows maybe Michigan will play there again soon.

I’ve had this post in my drafts since 2015 and keep meaning to write it around Halloween, but it’s too good to hold any longer, especially in light of some of the new information I have.

This week’s wine is Gothic’s Nevermore Pinot Noir. Gothic Wine launched in 2009 and is the creation of Josh Nadel, who I just discovered was the wine consultant on the AMC show Feed the Beast starring David Schwimmer. the hubby and I loved this show! Even though we only got one season of the show, you can still enjoy it on Hulu with a glass of this wine. Gothic is located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Nevermore blends fruit from several places within the the Willamette Valley to create a wine of depth and character. It is sleek with scents of raspberry, cherry and spice and notes of vanilla.

You could enjoy this bottle, with this custom Raven Wine Glass Holder ($7) and I was thinking this would make a great gift for any English buff or the Poe Society (from Gilmore Girls, haha):

I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite wines is the Belle Glos Pinot Noir. Well imagine my surprise when I saw this in my Facebook feed!

As this was the first I had heard about it I immediately had to have it and found and online retailer that sold it. Craft & Curd had it for $18.99 and I bought three bottles just in case it became unavailable.

The Belle Glos Pinot Noir Blanc is special because its grapes were grown specifically with the intention of making a rosé wine. On the label, you’ll notice that it says “oeil-de-perdrix” which translates to “eye of the partridge.” This is how rosé is traditionally known in France. I was even more thrilled to discover that a portion of the proceeds for every bottle sold go towards breast cancer research!

This wine is crisp with flavors of pink grapefruit, lemon zest, orange creamsicle and hints of dried apricot and sweet spice. Drink it chilled preferably on the patio with your girlfriends.

I stumbled on this wine randomly, via Facebook. I follow my husband’s fraternity (Delta Sigma Phi) on social media and one day they posted an alumni profile, which just happened to be Justin Baldwin, whose vineyards were named 2015 American Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast. I told John he was holding out on me – who knew they had a winemaker in the organization and how had we never heard of Justin before?!

The following interview is a few years old, but I thought it gave a great overview of how Justin got started and what sets his wines apart from others. What you need to remember about this wine is that it is a Bordeaux style wine in Paso Robles, which is unique to this area. In 1981, when Justin started the winery, Zinfandel was wildly popular and this was a departure from the norm.

I was excited to find the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon at a wine bar and since then I’ve seen it at a number of wine stores in the area. It is classic Cabernet, clear with a dark ruby purple core. It has notes of ripe black cherry, blackcurrant and berry fruit with vanilla, cinnamon and subtle dried fall leaf accents. It is smooth and supple with a clean finish. This is a go-to choice for any food from pizza to steak.

The 2015 version of the Cabernet Sauvignon runs for $26.25 or $21 at the Wine Society price. If I decide to join another wine club I would definitely choose this one. It would be fun to have these on hand for gifts and housewarming parties for our fraternity friends.

If you ever make it to Paso Robles, Justin has a restaurant, an inn called the “Just Inn,” and tasting room to enjoy.

I’ve mentioned my Bachelor wine nights a number of different times here on the blog. My friend and I watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette every Monday night with wine. I’ve always thought that the Bachelor franchise was missing out by not selling branded wine. Well ask and you shall receive, because now we have The Bachelor Wines.

Before Nick’s season started, I scooped up the Collector’s Pack for $47.88 and would drink them as appropriate during each date. I like that you can buy these in a pack or one-on-one. I will definitely need some replacements before Rachel’s season starts. I will say that the Chardonnay really surprised me. I am not a huge fan of the buttery flavors of a normal Chardonnay, but these were really understated and I actually really liked it. Here is the breakdown on each wine:

One-on-One Chardonnay

Will you be the chosen one? After reading the wine details, I discovered that the juice was fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks to harness the inherently bright fruit flavor and character of Chardonnay. This is why it didn’t have a strong buttery flavor. Usually they use oak barrels for that which explains why I loved this version. Described as sunshine in a bottle, you’ll taste ripe apple flavors with notes of lemon, pear and a hint of cream.

The Fantasy Suite Cabernet Sauvignon

The grapes from this wine were crushed and cold soaked for several days to harness color and flavor intensity resulting in a beautiful, deep ruby red color. It has aromas of black cherry, blueberry and dark plum with hints of savory dried herbs. It is easy to drink due to flavors of blackberry and plum.

The Final Rose

The grapes from this one come from Lodi, one of California’s oldest premium winegrowing regions. The skins remained in contact with the juice just long enough to leave a soft shade of blush pink. It has aromas of strawberries, red cherries, and rose petals. Flavors include raspberries, strawberry jam, and a hint of spice.

All of these wines are great and perfect for a Bachelor/Bachelorette viewing party, I used my Coravin so I could enjoy the wine throughout the whole season. I will say that they need to add more options to this and I have some suggestions:

The Right Reasons Riesling

Paradise Pinot Noir

Group Date Gewürztraminer

Neil Lane Sparkling Wine

Two-on-One Tempranillo

Cocktail Party Chianti

Villian Viognier

Let me know if you think of any other ideas. At the very list we definitely need a sparkling wine to add to this collection. Maybe one day each lead will get their own special wine, how fun would that be?

I was thrilled to hear that a Michigan wine was selected for the White House state dinner for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Chateau Chantal’s 2013 Ice Wine was selected to pair with dessert, Maple Pecan Cake with Cocoa Nib Wafer and Butterscotch Swirl Ice Cream.

Image Credit: 9and10news.com

Chateau Chantal is a winery and bed & breakfast on Old Mission Peninsula. The winery was founded by Robert Begin, a former Catholic diocesan priest and Nadine, previously one of the Felician Sisters. How cool is it that they both decided on a different life and got married in 1974? They ended up following Robert’s dream of building a European style winery chateau.

There were only 500 bottles made of the 2013 Ice Wine. It comes in a special wooden box and is made from grapes frozen on the vine, and then pressed while still frozen. It is described as having “incredible sweetness and fruitiness, with all the delicateness of a fine Riesling wine.” It has notes of decadent apricot, toasted caramel, and baked apple. The wine retails for $70.

The wine graced a stunning tablescape:

A place setting during a press preview ahead of the state dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the State Dining Room of the White House, on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A display of bite-size sweets uses a photograph of the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop for the state dinner honoring Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the State Dining Room at the White House March 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Have you tried any presidential wines? If so, I would love to hear the details! I have mentioned the Casa Nuestra Chenin Blanc wine before that was featured at a White House picnic. Maybe someday I will try them all!

Disclosure: I received this wine from a PR firm on behalf of Hess Collection Wines to provide a review. Opinions expressed are 100% my own.

I was thrilled to receive a whole collection of wine from Hess Collection Wines to celebrate the holidays! They didn’t just send me one bottle, but six! I decided to use them for a special occasion and serve them with our Thanksgiving dinner.

I thought this would elevate our meal and give everyone an opportunity to taste the different varieties and decide which one they liked. I decided it would be fun to talk about my favorite holiday wine and menu pairings for this post.

This might have been my favorite wine of the night, it went perfectly with my veggie tray and appetizers before dinner.

This was the first time we hosted Thanksgiving and the first time we made my grandmother’s stuffing recipe. It was delicious and the Chardonnay paired perfectly with the dish. I am usually not a fan of Chardonnays because I don’t like the buttery flavor, but this one was different. It was a lot lighter than your traditional Chardonnay.

Mashed potatoes are a staple of any holiday meal, but I love that John pre-roasts the garlic in the turkey before with whip them up. The Cabernet Sauvignon pairs perfectly with this recipe.

Last but not least, the Treo. This wine, paired perfectly with the turkey. As this was my husband’s job, I don’t have the details of his recipe, but he did thaw and brine the turkey in our refrigerator 24 hours before we cooked it. The Treo is an easy drinking wine with a touch of sweetness from the ripe, dark fruit, accented by a decidedly big impression of bing cherries and ripe plums.

Hess Select Wines elevated our first Thanksgiving in the new home and made it something special. I can’t wait to celebrate many more holidays in this house over a glass of wine.

This week’s wine is Leelanau Cellar’s Witches Brew. Leelanau is a Michigan winery started in 1974 in Northern Michigan by the Jacobson family. Leelanau (Lee-La-Naw) is an Indian word meaning “Delight of Life.” They also have a tasting room outside of Traverse City which I’ve previously visited.

Witches Brew is the perfect fall wine. It’s a red blend enhanced with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and other natural spices.

Witches Brew is what you would call a mulled wine. A red wine that has been warmed and spiced. You heat it up on your stove and serve it warm. You can also add fun things like cloves, cinnamon sticks or orange zest. Really anything goes. Mulled wine dates back to 1420 in Germany where they call it Gluhwein (roughly translated to “glow wine.” There have even been documented mulled wines as far back as ancient Rome.

Have you tried Witches Brew yet? It’s perfect for a tailgate or any outdoor event. I would love to hear what you think about it.

Ladies and gentleman…I must present to you – The Chambong! One of my friends introduced this to me last week and I couldn’t believe my eyes! I feel like this was made just for me as I love champagne! I decided to make this week’s post all about champagne.

The Chambong is a mere $25 and is dishwasher safe! Their logo is an elephant named Champy, I don’t really see how this could be any better. I’m definitely getting one for my next party, you can see how it works in this video:

I’ve mentioned this Jonathan Adler Champagne Pop Candle ($42) before and it’s still just as awesome! I mean, they describe it as “New Year’s Eve, silk-satin sheets, a million bucks.” They also have vodka and bourbon versions.

Last but not least is a graphic tee, which I love, this Will Wake Up For Champagne Tee ($25). Perfect for brunch and you could dress it up with some fun jewelry. It also comes in gold print.

Which ones are your favorites? And more importantly, will you be trying the Chambong?

I love my Wine of the Week features, but today I wanted to talk to you about wine for your face…wine beauty products that is! Here are some cool wine beauty products that you can use while drinking wine:

These face masks are really fun and easy to use. Tony Moly has a whole line of different ingredients to try, but the Wine version caught my eye. There are two in a package and you just keep it on your face for 20 minutes. This particular mask is infused with real red wine extracts and rosemary to address enlarged pores while purifying, refining, and tightening skin.

29 by Lydia Mondavi is aligned with the famous Mondavi name and you can buy the whole line at Target. I thought this lip balm was perfect for the coming colder season. Apparently grape seed extract is 50 times more powerful than Vitamin E when it comes to protecting your skin, so this gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

This one isn’t for your face, but close enough. The ingredients include red grapes native to Italy, organic grape extract, resveratrol and red wine extract. These antioxidants act as UV filters to help correct sun damage. Sugar and coconut oil cleansers remove everyday pollutants and organic kelp and nettle extracts add iron, calcium, potassium and other vitamins and miners to help strengthen each strand of hair. They also have a conditioner too!